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U.N. Weighs Blix's Plan
To Test Iraq's Compliance

A Refusal to Destroy Missiles That Violate
Permitted Limits Could Bolster U.S. Case

By

David S. Cloud Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Feb. 20, 2003 1:10 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON -- Chief United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix, proposing a new test of Iraq's willingness to comply with disarmament demands, plans to ask Baghdad to destroy its stockpile of an experimental missile whose range recently was found to exceed permitted limits, U.N. diplomats said.

In a letter this week, Iraq will be notified that the Al Samoud 2 missile should be eliminated because its maximum range exceeds the 93-mile limit set by the U.N., officials said. The demand sets up a potentially critical showdown...